Bonds thanks Loria, team for ‘rewarding’ one season
Barry Bonds didn’t take a swing at the Marlins on his way out of Miami. Just the opposite. Bonds, who was let go by the Marlins after just one season as their hitting coach, thanked the organization in a parting note he posted on his personal blog.
“Working with the Marlins this past season has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my baseball career,” Bonds wrote. “I am grateful and humbled that Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins gave me the opportunity to be a part of their organization.”
Even though Bonds had no coaching experience, the Marlins took a shot by hiring the majors’ all-time home run king. But the Marlins improved only marginally offffffffffffensively, and Bonds was let go earlier in the week.
“Though my contract was only for one year, I enjoyed sharing my hitting knowledge and other aspects of the game with such a talented group of players,” Bonds wrote. “I am proud of their development and accomplishments over the course of the season and hope they will be able to continue to build offff their hard work as they head into next year.
“I look forward to what the future holds for me — but I do know that baseball is and always will be in my blood.”
Two weeks after the PGA Tour season ended, the next one starts Thursday and for some fans it can’t get here soon enough: Tiger Woods is returning to golf.
Woods made it offifficial Friday by entering the Safeway Open in Napa, California, the fifirst event on the PGA Tour’s wraparound schedule. He has said a month ago that he hoped to play the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort, but had until Friday afternoon to offifficially commit.
Woo d s l a s t p l ay e d o n Aug. 23, 2015, at the Wyndham Championship in a last-minute bid to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffffs. A month later, he announced a second surgery on his back, and then a third one a month after that.
E v e n t h r o u g h o t h e r o p e r a t i o n s o n h i s k n e e , the 40-year-old Woods has never spent this long away from competition. And never has the No. 767 player in the world attracted so much attention.
“Silverado is the perfect course for him because it is so straightforward,” tour- Turkish the